SEAC live presents Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, Gerry O'Beirne and Donal O'Conor

The Séamus Ennis Arts Centre usually holds an annual Summer ‘Garden Party’ series with the best of Irish and international artists rocking the intimate venue’s dome stage in North County Dublin. Due to COVID-19 restrictions on touring, artists have suffered a disconnection from their audience. As a response to the pandemic, the Centre is bringing music to a new audience through a combination of high-quality web streaming with the addition of audience participation through Zoom. Artists thrive on engaging with their fans and this quality livestream will allow them the opportunity to reconnect. This new series of interactive musical performances will provide music fans with an enriching live musical experience and will provide musicians with an income for their work.

Joint venture SEAC Live is a series of live music concerts of folk, traditional and contemporary Irish music presented by the Séamus Ennis Arts Centre. 

They will be streamed from Studio 1 at the iconic Windmill Lane Recording Studios in Dublin’s Docklands.

These live streamed concerts can be viewed on smart TVs or mobile devices and will be interactive!
Audience members can sign up to be projected on to the walls of the studio during the performance via Zoom, giving a real audience feel for the band and enabling fans to chat with the performers, submit requests and have a front row seat for a great night’s music and entertainment. Viewers can tune into SEAC Live from all over the world to watch these amazing performers. They will bring the incredible musical culture of Ireland to homes around the world and will appeal on an international level to the Irish diaspora and to the Irish abroad who are yearning for their Irish culture and heritage.

Saturday, July 25th @ 8:30pm (GMT+1)

Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh with Gerry O’Beirne & Donal O’Conor

https://www.muireann.ie

Ticket Link: https://www.tseac.ie/events

Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh is a multi-award winning traditional singer and musician from Corca Dhuibhne, West Kerry. A leading exponent of the sean nós style, her repertoire also includes songs from a wide variety of folk and contemporary sources. Her childhood in West Kerry saw her immersed in a rich cultural environment and vital living tradition, which was to be hugely influential on the foundation of her distinctive vocal and instrumental sound. 

She has enjoyed a successful career as a touring artist, with over thirteen years’ experience as lead singer and flute player with the Irish traditional supergroup Danú, as well as a many years performing as a solo artist. Muireann is also a popular television presenter, having hosted a range of programmes for Irish and Scottish TV over the past decade including the celebrated traditional music series “Port”. She currently presents her own music programme “Malairt Poirt le Muireann” on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta and has collaborated with many musicians in genres ranging from traditional to classical, world music to electronica. 

 “One of the earthiest and most distinctive voices, not just in traditional circles, but anywhere” – The Irish Times 

 “One of today’s great singers” – Irish Echo 

 “Mysterious Perfection”- Dónal Lunny

Video: https://youtu.be/8C5QqFapcuw

Donal O’Connor

Son of the celebrated fiddler Gerry O’Connor and revered singer Eithne Ní Uallacháin of Lá Lugh, multi-instrumentalist Dónal O’Connor has establishing himself as one of Ireland’s leading producers. As a musician and composer he has played and recorded with Liam Ó Maonlaí, Duke Special, Grainne Holland, Davy Spillane, Moya Brennan, Dónal Lunny, Steve Cooney, Mary Dillon, Cathal McConnell, Bob Brozman, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, John Spillane, Lumiere and Barry Kerr.

Having inherited a musical legacy of at least five generations of fiddle playing he has toured the world from a young age as both a lead and backing instrumentalist with a number of bands including Lá Lugh, At First Light, Ulaid and the Irish song super group A Stór Mo Chroí. He has composed music for theatre, television and film and has presented music shows for BBC ALBA, BBC NI, TG4, BBC Radio Ulster and Raidio na Gaeltachta.

 “O’Connor’s winning blend of pace and lyricism transmits his enthusiasm for the music directly to the listener with irresistible impact” – Herald Scotland 

 Gerry O’Beirne

A native of the west of Ireland and reared there and in west Africa, Gerry O’Beirne is a self-taught master of the six and twelve string, slide guitar and ukulele and other stringed instruments. Many of his songs have been recorded by well-known artists on the Irish music scene including Mary Black, Maura O’Connell and Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh. His own albums have received much acclaim around the world, and he produced and arranged music for many others including Patrick Street, Kevin Burke and Micheál O’Domhnaill. 

His writing is a hybrid of the passion found in traditional music and the freshness of contemporary song. Gerry has toured the globe as a solo artist and with the Sharon Shannon Band, Patrick Street, Midnight Well, Andy M. Stewart, Kevin Burke, Andy Irvine, and The Waterboys. He has performed at the White House, opened for the Grateful Dead, and played electric guitar with Marianne Faithfull. He lives near Dingle in West Kerry.

 “A sublime talent… opens new creative vistas for acoustic guitar music” - fRoots

Partnership with Windmill Lane Recording Studios

The Séamus Ennis Arts Centre chose Windmill Lane Recording Studios as the venue for SEAC Live to ensure high quality sound and for the space to have multiple cameras filming the performance. SEAC Live is one of the first phases of the re-opening of the iconic Irish recording studios, who launched their Visitor Experience in February this year. The team at the studios are putting in place precautionary procedures to ensure the health and safety of visitors and to guarantee that all guests and performers can enjoy their experience safely. SEAC Live will be broadcast from the famous Studio 1, where The Chieftains, U2, The Rolling Stones and The Cranberries recorded. Windmill Lane Recording Studios is one of the most unique cultural attractions in Dublin. Viewers who book a ticket for SEAC Live will get a fascinating behind-the-scenes view of the studios. 

Naomi Moore, CEO of Windmill Lane Recording Studios said, “We are delighted host the SEAC Live streaming sessions, supporting an alternative platform for gigging artists. Bringing the audience into the venue through Zoom really excites me about this project. To grab a few friends to have a few drinks and a dance and being able to interact with the musicians is the closest we will get to actually going to a gig for a while. It will also celebrate the reopening of the Windmill Lane Recording Studios Visitor Experience, which we had just launched before lockdown. It will be wonderful to see our famous doors open to the public again.’’

 Liz Halpin, Head of Dublin at Fáilte Ireland said: “In recent months, tourist attractions and cultural centres across the country have shown that they can maintain a very real connection with their audiences in many innovative ways. The new livestream series from Windmill Lane Recording Studios featuring some of Ireland’s best-known artists will help to maintain that bond and provide a welcome and entertaining reminder of Ireland’s musical heritage to visitors across the globe. It is initiatives like this that help strengthen the truly unique offering that we have here, and keep Ireland and Dublin front of mind for future visitors from home and abroad.”

Join SEAC Live from another legendary home of Irish music, Windmill Lane Recording Studios, for a series of interactive music concerts like no other! 

 For further information, please contact: Emma Corcoran  [email protected]  or call 087 7851429